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Saint Laurent has art world in £300m fret

THOUSANDS of people are queuing for a chance to see one of the world's most breathtaking private art collections before it goes under the hammer in Paris tomorrow in what may be either the sale of the century or the last hurrah of the art world.

A line of art lovers snaked all the way around the glass-domed exhibition hall where the extraordinary treasure trove of Yves Saint Laurent, the fashion designer who died last year, went on public view for the first time yesterday.

"Everybody wants a piece of him, he's such an iconic figure," said Jean-Claude Vincent, an architect waiting to go into a gallery built at great expense by the auctioneers to recreate the atmosphere of the designer's Paris apartment.

Dealers are flying in from all over the world for what has been billed by Christie's, the auction house, as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bid for rare